Cooperative Education Requirements

Students typically can earn one to four credit hours per semester through a cooperative work experience. There are several factors which determine the amount of type of credit that can be awarded. These include the following:

Elective Co-op Credit (Academic)
Students interested in receiving elective college credit for off campus employment may be eligible to enroll in the following:

BUS 291 – Business Co-op for one (1) hour elective credit (requires a minimum of 15 clock hours per week). Work hours should be scheduled after school hours and on week-ends.

or

BUS 292 – Business Co-op for two (2) hours elective credit (requires a minimum of 24 clock hours per week). Work hours should be scheduled after school hours and on week-ends.

Course work may be repeated for credit; however, only eight (8) semester elective credit hours can be applied toward graduation.

These cooperative work experiences provide valuable learning opportunities, and the student’s participation will be graded and documented on his/her permanent record and transcript. Grades will be assigned for these courses.

Direct Co-op Credit (Technical)

Students interested in a typical parallel co-op arrangement will attend classes during the morning hours and be released to go to work in the afternoon. Each class will be handled on an individual basis and every attempt will be made to arrange the student’s schedule in a manner to allow him/her to take advantage of any opportunity for employment.

Direct credit for a particular lab or shop course may be awarded if the work experience offers the student the opportunity to complete tasks which directly replace those which would be assigned to him/her while enrolled in that course at the College. Under these conditions, the student may be released from school early each day to go to work. The student could also be allowed to arrive late if class and work schedules can be arranged. Under these conditions, the student is awarded the number of semester hours credit assigned to the particular lab or shop course. The majority of cooperative work experience for career technical students will fall into this category.

Alternating Work Experience (Technical)

Students interested in an alternating co-op arrangement will attend school full-time for a semester followed by a semester of full-time work. Other schedules of rotation are possible and will be addressed if the need arises. Credit for alternating co-op arrangements will typically be elective co-op credit. However, alternating cooperative work experiences may be evaluated on an individual basis to determine if direct credit is possible.

Lurleen B. Wallace Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Applied Science degrees and certificates. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.